Advanced handable skin care device and operating method thereof

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for maintaining and supplying stable power to a skin care device comprising a DC-DC converting unit ( 20 ) for escalating the voltages from a charged battery power source ( 1 ), a skin-stimulating unit ( 50 ) with a supersonic element or an ion-inducing element, a switch unit ( 30 ) having a main switch (SW 1 ) and various functional switches, an LCD displayer ( 40 ) for indicating various operating modes, a CPU ( 2 ) for controlling each component, a main switch initiating unit having a function when the main switch (SW 1 ) is turned on, the CPS is activated by a switching signal inputted to an analogue input port from said CPU, the first switch unit ( 31 ) is activated by the CPU through an analogue output port, then the FET (D 4 ) is switched to supply battery power to the DC-DC-converting unit ( 20 ), and a function of the PWM control signal, which prolongs the switching-on stage for gradually increasing the voltage up to the operating voltage during the step-up stage, and inversely shortens the switching-off stage for gradually decreasing the operating voltage during the step-down stage. A strength-adjusting switch (SW 3 ) for controlling the strength of output voltage of the DC-DC converting unit ( 20 ), and a mode switch (SW 2 ) for operating various modes of supersonic vibrations controlled by each vibrating frequency. An LED displayer being equipped with a minimum number of connecting pins for indicating various operating modes. Each LED is independently activated to turn on and off according to each signal of the input-output terminal from a controlling unit of the CPU.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a divisional application of prior U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/561,061 filed Jan. 18, 2007, which is a 371 of PCT/KR03/02272filed Oct. 27, 2003, now issued to U.S. Pat. No. 7,922,675 by Hwan-HoSHIN for Advance Handable Skin Care Device and Operating Method thereof.The above-identified patent application is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an improved skin care device equippedwith a supersonic vibrator. More particularly, the supersonic skin caredevice employs a software control means for maintaining and supplyingstable electricity without using a DC-DC converter.

2. Description of the Prior Art

According to the improved feature of the present invention, thesupersonic skin care device is equipped with a starting device,especially a contact switching device for a supersonic, vibrating bowl.

As the third feature of the present invention, the skin care device isequipped with operating functions of various modes, and intensities ofstrong to weak control means, depending on the variation of thefrequency.

Further, according to the fourth feature of the present invention, theskin care device is equipped with an energy saver function thatautomatically increases vibration strength when a user brings thevibrating plate of the skin care device to touch the user's skin.

According to the fifth feature of the present invention, the skin caredevice is equipped with a displayer, which has a minimum number ofconducting pins.

The published Korean Patent No. 2002-0038818 disclosed a conventional,portable skin care device comprising a DC-DC converter as a power supplydevice to increase the voltages from the charging power. But the DC-DCconverter is expensive and necessitates an increase in production cost.Further, if the electric voltage is rapidly increased by the DC-DCconverter, it causes an interruption in current in the skin care device,which wastes energy.

The second conventional skin care device has a disadvantage in that itwastes energy by distributing power to all of the components of thecircuits and the CPU, activating even those components which do not needto be operated, by turning on the main switch.

Another published patent, Korean Patent No. 2002-0085919, discloses animproved ionized skin care device for utilizing an ion effect and amethod for controlling the same. Because this device uses severaldifferent voltages to operate grouped circuits inside the device, it isinconvenient for maintaining a consistent voltage. Energy is wasted whentransforming power supply voltages. When a user turns on the mainswitch, power is supplied to the all of the components of groupedcircuits as the standard voltage (Vcc).

For example in the above conventional device, 5V of standard voltage(Vcc) is used to activate the circuit, and 10-15V is required to operatethe supersonic vibrator. If the voltage is suddenly increased by theDC-DC converter to initiate the supersonic vibrator, it causes thedevice to power down momentarily due to an overflow of power.

The third type of conventional supersonic vibrating skin care device hasvarious modes of functioning, i.e., a cleaning mode, a supersonicvibrating mode and a skin-stimulating mode. An additional mode of ioninjection may be included.

However, most conventional skin care devices use frequency variation tocontrol the vibrating strength without altering the voltages. Therefore,most present conventional skin care devices are limited in the amount ofadjustment of the strength of vibration.

The fourth type of conventional supersonic vibrating skin care devicehas adopted a ready-to-use function. If a user turns on the switch ofthe skin care device, the voltage of the device is increased up tooperation mode regardless the user's intended usage. Thus, energy iswasted by unnecessarily idling, the vibrating device. It also does notprovide a sensing device to sense whether the skin care device iscontacting a user's skin.

The fifth type of conventional portable skin care device has an LEDdisplayer that is operable by a CPU. This device is equipped withvarious modes of operating stages. Thus, a plurality of connectingterminals is required to display the various modes and steps in the LEDdisplayer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide an improved skincare device adopting a software control means for gradually increasingor decreasing voltages at the initial or end of operation, andmaintaining a stable supply of electricity without using a DC-DCconverter. Unlike a home-use skin care device, which is plugged into awall outlet through an adapter, the portable skin care device uses abattery as a main power source. Thus, it is essential to provide astable power supply for the portable skin care device.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a skin caredevice adopting a power control means to effectively maintain a powersupply and prevent the unnecessary consumption of energy. When the skincare device is switched on, only the main CPU is actuated until anadditional control signal is received to operate the next step.

The third objective of the present invention is to provide a skin caredevice having various modes controlling the vibrating strength bycontrolling not only frequency variation but also voltage alteration.Further, the strength of vibration may be controlled by graduallyvarying voltages using a software control means without using a DC-DCconverter.

Still other objective of the present invention is to provide a skin caredevice equipped with a sensing device to detect skin contact forprotecting the skin from possible burning due to accidental overheatingor electric discharging. It also equipped with a function to save energyby reducing the unnecessary idling of the device.

The fourth objective of the present invention is to provide a skin caredevice equipped with a supersonic vibrating feature, adopting aready-to-use function. When the main switch is turned on, the standbystep of voltage is activated until the sensor detects that the device istouching a user's skin. When the sensor detects the skin touch, thestrength of vibration is gradually increased up to operation mode.Therefore, it saves energy by preventing the unnecessarily idling of thevibrating device.

The fifth objective of the present invention is to provide a skin caredevice equipped with an LED displayer, operable by a CPU, which has aminimum number of connecting terminals required to display various modesand steps.

According to the first function of the present invention, the skin caredevice comprises a DC-DC converting unit (20) for escalating voltagesfrom the charged battery power source, a skin-stimulating unit (50) forgenerating the supersonic element or ionizing inductor, a switch unit(30) with a main switch and individual unit switches, an LCD displayer(40) for indicating the operating mode, and a CPU (2) for controllingall of the above components.

A method for maintaining a stable power supply comprises the followingsteps: (a) starting a pulse width-measuring program (PWM_CHECK) to set acertain pulse width (S1) and to check whether the pulse width iscorrectly operating within the controlled width (S2). (b) If thedetected pulse is the same as the setting width (‘PWM OK FLAG’=1), theprocess is returned to continue the operation. If the detected pulse isnot the same as the setting width, the current operating width(‘PWM_PUF) is compared with the setting width (‘PWM_TARGET) (S3). (c) Ifthe compared value of the operating and setting widths has no difference(‘PWM_PUF−‘PWM_TARGET=0), then the process is returned to continue theoperation. Otherwise, a subsequent step for adjusting the PWM isinitiated. (c1) The duty ratio determines whether the duty ratio of thepulse width is larger than that of the setting width (S4). (c2) If thedetected duty ratio of the pulse width is smaller than that of thesetting width, the duty ratio of the setting width is increased by thedifference in the PWM value between the detected duty ratio and thesetting duty ratio. This is the step-up stage (S7). (c3) If the detectedduty ratio of the pulse width is larger than that of the setting width,the duty ratio of the setting width is decreased by the difference inthe PWM value between the detected duty ratio and the setting dutyratio. This is the step-down stage (S8).

The skin care device of the present invention comprises a DC-DCconverting unit (20) for escalating the voltages from the chargedbattery power source, a skin-stimulating unit (50) for generating thesupersonic element or ionizing inductor, a switch unit (30) with a mainswitch and individual unit switches, an LCD displayer (40) forindicating the operating mode, and a CPU (2) for controlling eachcomponent. The DC-DC converting unit (20) consists of a couple ofvoltage-measuring units (R2, R3) and a switching element (D3) forcontrolling the pulse width according to the duty ratio signal through aPWM control terminal (10) from the CPU.

The present skin care device equips a PWM control signal function, whichprolongs the switching-on stage for gradually increasing the voltageuntil it reaches the operating voltage at the step-up stage, andinversely shortens the switching-off stage for gradually decreasing theoperating voltage at the step-down stage.

Further, the present skin care device equips a safety control signalfunction, which gradually increases the operating voltage when it sensesthat the device is touching a user's skin, and rapidly shuts off thepower when it detects an unusual operation, overheating or an electrichazard. These functions are also applied to the portable skin caredevice.

Regarding the second embodiment of the present invention, the skin caredevice comprises a power control system with a main starting switch, aDC-DC converting unit (20, 20′, 120) for escalating the voltages fromthe charged battery power source (1, 101), a skin-stimulating unit (50,150) for generating the supersonic element or inducing the ionizedelement, a switch unit (30, 130), an LCD displayer (40, 140) forindicating the operating mode, and a CPU (2, 102) for controlling eachcomponent. When the main switch (SW1) is turned on, a switching signalis input by an analogue terminal of the CPU for activating the firstswitch units (31, 31′ 131). Then, the PET (D4) turns on and activatesthe DC-DC converting unit (20, 20′, 120) to escalate the voltage fromthe charged battery power.

Preferably, the switch in the signal (SW_IN) of the main switch is inputto an analogue terminal (AN5) of the CPU (2) through the second switchunit (32). The output of the first switch unit (31, 131) from the CPU isactivated by switching the phototransistor that activates thephoto-coupler (ISO1) for turning on the FET (D4).

Hopefully, the DC-DC converting unit (20) consists of voltage-measuringunits and a switching element for controlling the pulse width accordingto the duty ratio signal through the PWM from the CPU. The PWM signalcontrols the switch-activating time to gradually increase the voltageuntil it reaches the operating voltage at the step-up stage, andinversely decreases the voltage by shortening the switching time at thestep-down stage.

According to the third objective of the present invention, a supersonicskin care device comprises a DC-DC converting unit (20) for escalatingthe voltages from a charged battery power source (1), a supersonicstimulating unit (50) for generating supersonic vibrating, a switch unit(30), an LCD displayer (40) for indicating the operating modes, and aCPU (2) for controlling the overall components. The CPU also controlsthe output voltage strength of the DC-DC converter by operating anactivating switch (SW3) through the PWM control terminal (10). Thevarious modes controlled by different vibrating frequencies aregenerated through a mode switch (SW2) in the switch unit.

The DC-DC converting unit (20) comprises a pair of voltage-measuringunits (R2, R3) and a switching element (D3) activated by software tocontrol the pulse width according to the duty ratio signal through thePWM control terminal (10) of the CPU.

This supersonic skin care device is equipped with a sensing device (60)for detecting skin contact to automatically escalate the output ofsupersonic vibration. This supersonic skin care device is also equippedwith a heat-sensing unit (70) for automatically shutting down power whenit detects abnormal overheating, so that it is possible to protect theskin from burning.

The heat-sensing unit (70) consists of a first heat sensor (71) fordetecting the surface temperature of the vibrating plate and a secondheat sensor (72) for detecting the temperature of the vibrating element(54) and the switching element of the supersonic vibrator.

To implement the fourth objective of the present invention, thesupersonic vibrating device comprises a voltage amplifier (51) foramplifying voltages according to control signals, a supersonic vibrator(ULTRA1) activated by the amplified voltage, a resonance unit (53) forresonating with a free vibration that occurs when a pulse is accessed tothe amplified voltage, a vibration-generating unit (54) attached to theresonance unit (53), a vibrating unit (52) for vibrating the supersonicvibrator by power transmitted from the vibration-generating unit (54),and a skin contact sensing unit (60) for sensing skin contact andfeeding back the signals to the vibration-generating unit (54).

The skin contact sensing unit (60) comprises a current-sensing unit (61)connected to the vibration-generating unit (54) and an amplifier (62)for amplifying and transmitting the sensed signal to the control unit.

The supersonic skin care device further comprises a supersonicvibration-generating unit, a CPU for monitoring the control signals, aDC-DC converter (20) for controlling the strength of output by the PWMcontrol signal and a display unit (40) for indicating skin contactingstatus.

To implement the fifth objective of the present invention, a skin caredevice is equipped with a function of LED displaying with a minimumnumber of connecting terminals to display various modes of operation.

The CPU has a first input-output terminal (RB2) connected in parallel toa second input-output terminal (RB3), but first and second LEDs (D6, D7refer FIG. 3) are connected in opposite directions from each other. Thesecond input-output terminal (RB3) is connected in parallel to a thirdinput-output terminal (RC0), but third and fourth LEDs (D8, D9 referFIG. 3) are connected in opposite directions from each other. The thirdinput-output terminal (RC0) is connected in parallel to a fourthinput-output terminal (RC1), but fifth and sixth LEDs (D11, D13 referFIG. 3) are connected in opposite directions to each other. A seventhLED (D14 in FIG. 3) is connected between the first input-output terminal(RB2) and the fourth input-output terminal (RC1).

Each LED is independently activated to switch on and off according tothe signal of each input-output terminal from the controlling device ofthe CPU.

The first to sixth LEDs are usually used for adjusting the strength ofmodes, but the seventh LED is for displaying the status of the skin caredevice operation.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of a supersonic skin care deviceaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detail of a circuit of a power source and a switch unit ofthe skin care device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a detail of a circuit of an output unit of the skin caredevice according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a detail of a circuit of a heat-detecting unit of the skincare device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a detail of a circuit of a supersonic vibrating unit of theskin care device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a pulse wave generated by the supersonic vibratingunit of the skin care device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a pulse wave used to control the skin care device of thesecond embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for controlling the stable voltage of the skincare device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an overall block diagram of the supersonic ionizing skin caredevice according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a detail of a circuit of a power source and a switch unit forthe supersonic ionizing skin care device according to the secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a detail of a circuit of a displaying unit for the supersonicionizing skin care device according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 12 is a detail of a circuit of the supersonic vibrating unit andthe infrared unit for the supersonic ionizing skin care device accordingto the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a detail of a circuit of the galvanic operating unit for thesupersonic ionizing skin care device according to the second embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a detail of a circuit and the auxiliary circuit of aheat-detecting device for the supersonic ionizing skin care deviceaccording to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 illustrates a pulse wave applied to the galvanic operating unitof the supersonic ionizing skin care device.

FIG. 16 is a detail of a circuit of the first switching unit for thesupersonic ionizing skin care device according to the second embodimentof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention isdescribed, along with the accompanying detailed drawings.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 7, an overall block diagram of the supersonicskin care device (FIG. 1), a detail of a circuit of a power source and aswitch unit (FIG. 2), a detail of a circuit of the output unit (FIG. 3),a detail of a circuit of the heat-detecting unit (FIG. 4), and a detailof a circuit of the supersonic vibrating unit (FIG. 5) are presented. Itfurther illustrates a pulse wave being generated by the supersonicvibrating unit (FIG. 6) and an application of the pulse wave forcontrolling the skin care device (FIG. 7).

As shown in FIG. 1, an improved skin care device comprises a DC-DCconverting unit (20) adopting a software control means for graduallyescalating the voltages from the charged battery power source toactivate the CPU (2), a supersonic vibrating unit (50) for operating thevibrating element to produce a multi-stage pulse width, a skin contactdetecting device (60) for detecting contact of the vibrating elementwith a user's skin, a heat-detecting device (70) to detect whether theelement is overheated, a switch unit (30) with a main power switch andindividual operation switch units, a displayer (40) for indicating theoperating mode, a warning unit (80) to alert when the device is inabnormal operation, an auxiliary circuit (90), and a batteryvoltage-measuring unit (10) for supplying stable power.

Referring to FIG. 2, each element of the DC-DC converting unit (20), aswitch unit (30) consisting of a first switch unit (31) and a secondswitch unit (32), and a power source unit consisting of a basic voltagegenerating unit (91), a reset unit (92) and an auxiliary circuit unit(90) are explained in detail.

An input terminal of the first switch unit (31) is connected in parallelto a pair of charge terminals (J1, J2) of the outer power source and thebattery terminal (J3). Another battery terminal (J4) is an extraterminal for changing polarity.

When the main power switch (SW1) is turned on, a switch in the signal(SW_IN) is transmitted to an analogue input terminal (AN5) of CPU (2)through a second switch unit (32) for activating the CPU. Sequentially,the CPU activates the first switch unit (31) through an analogue outputterminal (AN7) and the photo-coupler (ISO1) through resistance (R16) forswitching the FET (D4).

At this point, battery voltage is measured by the batteryvoltage-measuring unit (10), which consists of split resistance (R1,R35), and is transmitted to the analogue input terminal (AN1).

On the other hand, because portable skin care devices commonly use aunique power source, such as a battery (for example, 3.6V), avoltage-escalating process is essential to obtain high voltage (forexample, a supersonic device 1˜15V or an ion inductor 20˜30V). Insteadof using an expensive microchip as in the conventional DC-DC converter,a switching element (D3), a CPU and a PWM control program are used foradjusting the frequency duty rate and the output power voltage.

When a switching signal is issued from the PWM control terminal (10) ofthe CPU, the pulse width can be controlled by turning on and off theswitching element (D3), and eventually the output voltage and power arecontrolled.

When a user turns on the main switch of the skin care device and bringsit into contact with the skin, the skin contact-sensing device (60)detects the skin touch and transmits a signal to the CPU. Then, the PWMsignal prolongs the switch-on activating time to gradually increase thevoltage until it reaches the operating voltage at the step-up stage, asseen in FIG. 7( a). Thus, this method, including feedback control,solves the problems borne in the conventional device due to a suddenincrease of voltage. As seen in FIG. 7( b), when the device is turnedoff, the operating voltage is gradually decreased by shortening thepulse width during the switch-off time at the step-down stage.Therefore, it is possible to maintain stable and controlled power foroperating the device.

The VDD, which is the actual output voltage of the DC-DC convertingunit, is 12-15V for normal operation and 10V for standby operation tosave energy.

Split resistance (R2, R3) is matched with the output voltage of the CPU(for example, 3.3V) by sensing the output voltage and transmitting tothe analogue input terminal (AN2).

As seen in FIG. 16, an output signal of the first switch unit (31)transmitted from the output terminal (AN7) of the CPU does notnecessarily pass through the photo-coupler (ISO1) when the main switch(SW1) is turned on, because the result is the same as when the FET (D4)is directly connected through resistance (R29 in FIG. 16).

Referring to FIG. 8, a flowchart of a power maintenance program ispresented for supplying stable power and controlling the CPU. A methodfor maintaining and supplying stable power comprises the followingsteps: after setting a certain pulse width, starting a pulsewidth-checking program (PWM_CHECK) to check the operating pulse width(S1) and determine whether the pulse width is properly operated withinthe set pulse width (S2). If the checked pulse is operated in thesetting pulse width (‘PWM OK FLAG’=1), the process is returned to stepS9 to continue the operation. If the checked pulse width is not in thesetting pulse width, the actual pulse width (‘PWM_PUF) is compared withthe setting pulse width (‘PWM_TARGET) (S3). If the compared pulse widthhas no difference with the actual and the setting pulse widths(PWM_PUF−PWM_TARGET=0), then the process is returned to S9 to continueoperation. Otherwise, a subsequent step S4 or step S8 is initiated foradjusting the PWM.

Next, the duty ratio of the pulse width determines whether the actualoperating duty ratio is larger or smaller than that of the setting width(S4). If the detected duty ratio of pulse width is smaller than that ofthe setting width, a step up (S7) is initiated to increase the settingduty ratio by the amount of the difference in the PWM value between thedetected duty ratio and the setting duty ratio (C3). If the detectedduty ratio of the pulse width is larger than that of the setting width,a step-down (S8) is initiated to decrease the setting duty ratio by theamount of the difference in the PWM value between the detected dutyratio and the setting duty ratio. Then, the process is returned to S2 tocontinue the operation.

Through the above pulse width-checking program, it is possible to adjustthe strength of output by operating an analogue input switch (SW3) ofthe skin care device. When a user intends to adjust the strength fromweak to strong, the duty ratio is increased by accessing a PWM pulsewidth signal from the PWM control terminal (pin number 10) to ananalogue input terminal (AN5). For example, when a delicate area of thehuman body, such as the face, is being stimulated, the output of thevibrating device must be gentle. But when a muscle area of the humanbody, such as a hip or a leg, is being stimulated, the output of thevibrating device must be strong.

The second switch (SW2) in the second switch unit (32) is a mode switchfor adjusting the levels of the skin care device. As seen in FIG. 6,each step signal having a proper frequency is issued from each step.Each output pulse signal of the analogue output terminal (R40) of thesupersonic generator (50) is transformed to be of proper frequency. Forexample, the present supersonic skin care device has four step modes,each with a transformed frequency, and two level of high/low adjustmentfor strength.

On the other hand, such configuration of the second switch (SW2) ispossible to apply the various voltages with one input port, which iscomprised of a basic voltage generator (91), a reset unit (92), reactor(L1), a condenser (C1, C2), and an anti-inverse diode (D1, D2).

Referring to FIG. 5, a core invention of the present supersonicvibration-generating unit (50) is described in detail.

When a control signal with a proper frequency is issued to the voltageamplifier (51) of the supersonic vibration-generating unit (50) throughthe output terminal (RA0) of the CPU, the signal is amplified throughvoltage amplifiers (R15, Q4, Q5. R8, R9, D10), and transmitted to thesupersonic vibrator (ULTRA1) as a pressing element of the vibrating unit(52) through the resonance unit (53). When a pulse is added to thevibrator, free vibration occurs. A transistor (Q2) called a resonancetank achieves self-resonance when pulse is added to it. The trans (T1)is amplified to dislocate from the 0 to + direction for generating avibration by the switching element (Q3, Q6) of the vibration-generatingunit (54). Again, pulse is added to the supersonic vibrator (ULTRA1)through the trans (T2) of the vibrating unit (52) for achievingresonance.

For example, when a vibrator operated with 1 MHz frequency is broughtinto contact with the user's skin, the vibrating element is depressed tointerrupt its operation. The interrupted vibration disturbs the electriccurrent in the circuit, and is detected by split resistance (R18, R20)of the electric current sensing unit (61). The sensed faint signal isamplified through the amplifier (62) and input to the analogue inputterminal (AN6) for transforming the digital signal. Thus, the DC-DCconverting unit (20) of the CPU increases the duty ratio of the outputsignal to step up the voltage from low to high through the PWM outputterminal (pin No. 10). Through this process, the skin care device can beoperated with a consistent vibrating strength, even when the vibratingelement is depressed. When the skin care device is in idling mode,without stimulating the patient, the supersonic vibrator isautomatically set to the lowest level of standby status to save energy.

Referring to FIG. 3, the display unit (40) and the sound alert unit (80)of the present invention are described in detail. Those systems comprisea first pair of photodiodes (D6, D7) connected in parallel to two ports(RB2, RB3) for displaying the strength of vibration, a second pair ofphotodiodes (D8, D9) connected in parallel to two ports (RB3, RC0) fordisplaying the mode controls of the first mode and the second mode, athird pair of photodiodes (D11, D13) connected in parallel to two ports(RC0, RC1) for displaying the mode controls of the third mode and thefourth mode, and a final photodiode (D14) connected in parallel to twoports (RB2, RC1) for displaying the operating status. It is possible toactivate multiple diodes with a minimum number of port pins fordisplaying all of the necessary information. Therefore, the presentsystem can save energy.

An alert sound-generating unit (80, R5, Q1, BUZ1) comprises an operationcircuit of a buzzer (BUZ1) for generating an alert sound when the deviceis in abnormal operating situation.

A Table 1 illustrates the determination of the LED diodes for turningthe lighting on and off. For example, when the output of theinput-output terminal RB2 (A) is “0” and the output of the input-outputterminal RB3 (B) is “1”, the LED (D7) is lit on to represent a status of“high mode.” If the output of the input-output terminal RB3 (B) is “0”and the output of the input-output terminal RC0 (C) is “1”, the LED (D8)is lit on to represent a status of “Level 1 mode.” If the output of theinput-output terminal RC0 (C) is “0” and the output of the input-outputterminal RC1 (D) is “1”, the LED (D13) is lit on to represent a statusof “Level 4 mode.” If the output of the input-output terminal RB2 (A) is“1” and the output of the input-output terminal RC1 (D) is “0”, the LED(D14) is lit on to represent a status of “contacted on the skin mode.”

TABLE 1 Port Led A B C D High 0 1 x x Low 1 0 x x Level 1 x 0 1 x Level2 x 1 0 x Level 4 x X 0 1 Level 3 x X 1 0 Back 1 X x 0 Each port is ableto select input or output. 1: the output status of the port with theoutput value of “1”, 0: the output status of the port with the outputvalue of “0”, and x: the input status of the port with no value.

Referring to FIG. 4, the heat-sensing unit (70) comprises a first heatsensor (71) and a second heat sensor (72). The first heat sensor (71)consists of a thermo-starter (RT1), and a split resistor (R19) detectsthe surface temperature of the vibrating plate and transmits thedetected signal to the CPU through an analogue input terminal (AN3). Dueto the high frequency of vibration, the supersonic vibrator is easilyoverheated to a temperature that would harm human skin (for example 45°C.). Therefore, it is necessary to control the duty ratio of the pulsewave (PWM) for preventing overheating.

The second heat sensor (72) consists of a second thermo-starter (RT2),and a second split resistor (R36) detects the temperature of transistors(Q3, Q6) in a vibration-generating unit (54) and transmits the detectedfaint signal to an analogue input terminal (AN4) through amplifiers(R37, R38, U2A). Through the sensing unit, the vibration-generating unit(54) can be prevented from overheating by controlling the duty ratio ofthe pulse wave (PWM).

Referring to FIGS. 9 to 15, a set of drawings illustrates an overallblock diagram of the supersonic ionizing skin care device of the secondembodiment (FIG. 9), a detail of a circuit of a power source and aswitch unit (FIG. 10), a detail of a circuit of a displaying unit (FIG.11), a detail of a circuit of the supersonic vibrating unit and theinfrared unit (FIG. 12), a detail of a circuit of the galvanic operatingunit (FIG. 13), a detail of a circuit and an auxiliary circuit of theheat-detecting device (FIG. 14), and a pulse wave applied to thegalvanic operating unit of the supersonic ionizing skin care device(FIG. 15).

According to the supersonic ionizing skin care device of the secondembodiment, the battery voltage (for example, 3.6V) is escalated to12˜15V by the first DC-DC converter (20), in the same way as in thefirst embodiment. However, it is escalated to 30V by the second DC-DCconverter (120′) to help the galvanic ion penetrate into the skin.

When the main switch is turned on, the DC-DC converter (120) isactivated through a first switch (131) in the same was as in the firstembodiment, but the difference in the first switch (131) of the secondembodiment is that the main switch (SW1) delivers basic voltage (Vcc).

As shown in FIG. 10, the second DC-DC converter (120′) can be used aDC-DC converter chip (U1). A signal from the sixth analogue outputterminal (AN6) of the micro-controller (102) activates the DC-DCconverter chip (U1) by the switching transistor (Q2) through theresistor (R15). The circuit also includes the elements (Resistor: R1,R3, R6, R11, R12, Capacity: C1, C4, C6, Inductor: L1, Diode: D1).

Referring to FIG. 11, the displaying unit (140) of the second embodimentis described in detail. The input-output terminals (RD0, RD1, RD2) ofthe micro-controller (102), along with the input-output terminal of RB2,have a function of input terminals for checking the input of the secondto fourth switches (SW2, SW3, SW4). It also has a function of an outputterminal for activating each displaying LED (D5-D7; D11, D13, D17-D19;D20, D21) along with the switching transistors (Q6, Q7, Q8).

Referring to FIG. 12, a supersonic operating unit (150) and a farinfrared operating unit (152) of the second embodiment are described indetail. The supersonic operating unit (150) activates a resonancetransistor (Q3) and a supersonic vibrator (ULTRA1) by accessing acontrol signal from an output terminal (RA0) of the micro-controller(102) to a switching transistor (Q4) through a diode (D16) andresistance (R22). The circuit of the units consist of elements R16,R18-R20, R23, L3-L5, C7-C11, D9 and transistors (Q3. Q4).

The far infrared operating unit (152) activates the far infrared LED(D6, D10, D12, D14) connected to the basic voltage (Vcc) through theresistor (R17) by accessing a control signal from an output terminal(RB3) of a micro-controller (102) to a switching transistor (Q5) througha resistance (R21).

Referring to FIG. 13, a galvanic operating unit (151) of the secondembodiment is described in detail, as follows. The galvanic operatingunit (151) controls a face-contact electrode (J4) and a hand-contactelectrode (J5, J6) through each resistor (R31, R38) to access the DCvoltage being converted by the pulse wave control signal from an outputterminal (PWM1) of a micro-controller (102) through a comparison circuit(U3A, R24, R28, R29, R36, C13).

At this point, a PWM control signal from an input-output terminal (RB6,RB7) of a micro-controller (102) transmits to the PWM controllingtransistor (Q9, Q10) through each resistance (R41, R43). Each port ofthe PWM controlling transistor (Q9, Q10) is connected to each face- andhand-contact electrode to output pulse depending on the PWM controlsignal. When a signal of the port RB7 is set to “high”, the transistor(Q10) is in the “on” status and connected to a hand signal contactelectrode to output between t0 and t1, as seen in FIG. 15. To thecontrary, when a signal of the port RB6 is set to “high”, the transistor(Q9) is in the “on” status and connected to a face signal contactelectrode to output between t1 and t2, as seen in FIG. 15. Therefore,the current flows to hand- or face-contact electrodes, alternatively, tohelp the galvanic active material penetrate into the skin.

It is also equipped with a skin contact sensing unit (160) for sensingskin contact with the vibrator. The sensed signal is transmitted foramplification through amplifying circuits (U3B, U3 c, R30, R32, R37,R39, C12, C14) and input to the micro-controller (102) through ananalogue input port (AN4, AN5), as seen in FIG. 13.

As seen in FIG. 14, a heat-sensing unit (170) comprises a first heatsensor with a thermo-starter (RT1) and a split resistor (R46) to detectthe surface temperature of the supersonic vibrating plate. It alsocomprises a sound alert unit (180), a basic voltage generating unit(191), and a reset (192).

As discussed above, the skin care device of the present inventionprovides an apparatus and a method for maintaining and supplying stablepower and smoothly escalating voltages to save energy.

It also provides a main switch system to avoid energy waste due to therapid voltage increase of conventional devices.

It also provides various operating modes and strengths to effectivelystimulate the skin, depending on the user's requirement.

It is also equipped with a skin contact sensing unit and a heat-sensingunit to protect the skin from possible burning due to accidentaloverheating.

The present invention is also equipped with an LED display device with aminimum number of connecting pins.

While this invention has been described as having a preferred design,the present invention can be further modified within the spirit andscope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended tocover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using itsgeneral principles. Further, this application is intended to cover suchdepartures from the present disclosure as come within known or customarypractice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fallwithin the limits of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for maintaining and supplying stablepower to a skin care device equipped with a DC-DC converting unit forescalating the voltages from a charged battery power source, a skinstimulating unit including at least one of a supersonic element or ioninducting element, a switch unit having a main switch and variousfunctional switches, a LCD displayer for indicating various operatingmodes, and a CPU for controlling each component comprises: a voltageamplifier for amplifying a voltages signal according to a control signalfrom the CPU, a supersonic vibrator activated by the amplified voltagesignal received via a resonance unit, the resonance unit that resonateswith free of the vibration when a pulse added to the amplified voltagesignal, a vibration-generating unit connected with the resonance unit, avibrating unit for vibrating the supersonic vibrator using the powertransmitted from the vibration-generating unit, and a skin contactsensing unit (60) consisted of a current sensing unit (61) connected tothe vibration-generating unit (54) and an amplifier (62) for amplifyingand transmitting the sensed signal to the CPU, wherein said skin contactsensing unit (60) is for sensing skin contact and feeding back thesignals to the CPU, so that the CPU controls the vibrating-generatingunit (54) according to the feedback of the skin contact sensing signal.2. An apparatus for maintaining and supplying stable power to a skincare device as claimed in claim 1 further comprises a control unit fortransmitting a control signal to said supersonic vibrator and a voltagestrength adjusting unit for adjusting output voltage of the DC-DCconverting unit according to the signal from the control unit.
 3. Anapparatus for maintaining and supplying stable power to a skin caredevice as claimed in claim 2, further comprises a displaying unit fordisplaying each of operating mode and skin contacting status.